


The 4 times that dinner was just dinner and that one time it was not (although neither of them would admit it.)

by WeepingintheTARDIS



Category: Broadchurch
Genre: 5+1 Things, Denial, Dinner, F/M, Hardy and Miller like to be frenemies, Slow Build, but achtually theyre an old married couple, but its actually 4
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:07:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24588070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeepingintheTARDIS/pseuds/WeepingintheTARDIS
Summary: What it says on the tin.Originated as part of my other work "An alphabet of I love you's" but became a tad bit too long. This is the full version.D is for dinner and Date.Enjoy!
Relationships: Alec Hardy & Ellie Miller, Alec Hardy/Ellie Miller
Comments: 30
Kudos: 165





	1. I cant eat THAT

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter is originally posted as chapter 4 of "An alphabet of I love you's".

The first time Hardy and Miller had dinner together was when they had known each other for barely a week. Hardy, eyes flicking over his computer screen without having moved otherwise for the past few hours, hadn’t realised it was getting late when MIller had knocked on his door.

‘I’m getting dinner. Can I get you anything?’

It was quite astonishing really as much as it was annoying him. He couldn’t understand how this woman, despite the instant and obvious dislike, which she reminded him of multiple times a day, kept being… well, nice to him, if politely so. They argued, a lot. She told him off, made it clear on several occasions that she was only working with him because she had no other choice. Then later she would still make him tea and be utterly affronted when he didn’t reciprocate the gesture. And now she was asking this. She could have just left, let him take care of himself, but here she was, offering to get him dinner.

Miller made an impatient noise and he made a vague noncommittal gesture. 

This he instantly regretted when half an hour later Miller placed an all too familiar looking paper wrapped packet on his desk along with some napkins. 

‘I can’t eat  _ that _ .’ 

She actually glared at him in disappointment. Heaving a big sigh he lowered himself on his chair and began unwrapping his meal.

‘It’s all there is. Eat or be hungry.’

With another sigh he started picking at his food. He could have just accepted her gesture for what it was, kind, unnecessarily so, without a fuss, but he was too annoyed. He didn’t know why it bothered him so much that he felt the need to act so childishly. That what it was, he was acting out, rebelling against the things he couldn’t wrap his head around. It was exactly this behaviour that Miller called him out on.

‘No, it’s you who is not the right fit, swanning in here, taking promotions meant for other people. Not being able to accept a cup of coffee or a bloody bag of chips without a great big sigh.’

He simply stared at her, too irritated by her unceasing obsession with the whole “you took my job” nonsense to process the last sentence. 

Miller apologised, because of course she did. ‘Sorry.’ and after a short pause. ‘Sir.’

\--

It wasn’t until many cups of tea, coffee and even on one particular morning a thermos later that her words, heated and unfiltered, caught up with him. When they did, Hardy finally realised that it should have been him apologising rather than MIller that night. 

Deep down he envied Miller, because it had seemed so easy when she said those words. 

Miller had apologised almost intuitively and had known how to do so genuinely. Now Hardy understood that was because it had been genuine. It was what she did time and time again.

Miller admitted her mistakes, she apologised when she was out of line, because in her world, it was simply the right thing to do. And, Hardy had realised rather belatedly, so was making tea and offering to bring someone dinner. It was not just a polite gesture, she was taking care of the people around her. All she expected in return was for others to accept her kindness and once in a while acknowledge their appreciation.

All Hardy had ever done was decline, protest and indeed sigh, a lot. Not even once had he made an effort to respond with at least a half-hearted thank you. Miller had been right to call him out on his behaviour and he should probably apologise. However, even just thinking about how he could do so was extremely uncomfortable and overwhelmed him with shame. Hardy didn’t know how to bring it up, so he didn’t and instead scolded himself in silence for not only being rude, but for being a coward as well.

\--

One morning, several weeks into the Danny Latimer case, Miller let out a surprised yelp when Hardy exited the kitchen and thrusted a steaming mug into her hands with a grumbled ‘Don’t mention it.’

She continued to stare at him bewilderedly, wondering if she should check on her boss to make sure he was OK, and almost burned her fingers on the hot ceramic. 

From that day on both of them always made two cups of tea instead of just one.


	2. It's what people do

It had happened twice, dinner at MIller’s house. The first time Hardy had reluctantly agreed to it because “It’s what people do.” and a highly annoyed and exasperated ‘Just say “yes”…’ from Miller. It might also have helped that merely minutes before she had threatened to “piss in a cup and throw it at him” if he didn’t back off.

In hindsight maybe he did cross a line that time by not separating Miller as his DS, dedicated to solving the case by all means necessary, from MIller as protective mother, legal guardian of a potential underage volunteer in a reconstruction.

Dinner with their bosses might have been what people did around here, but Hardy had never been invited at the house of someone he barely knew. The few times that it had happened the invitation had been addressed to his wife and he had been more or less dragged along. At least back then he had always had someone by his side to do the talking for him.

In the end Hardy had to admit that the evening spent at the Millers’ table had not been entirely awful.

Surprisingly Joe made a pleasant conversational partner, which compensated somewhat the embarrassment creeping up on him every time MIller sent him one of those strange inscrutable looks.

These looks became more frequent and more amused after Miller had left momentarily to check on her kids. Upon her return she had found both men snickering about something they refused to explain. Hardy could tell that she was holding herself back not to point out that she had never seen him laugh before.

When the evening came to an end Miller and Joe saw him out, offering to call a taxi, which he declined. (Politely this time and without a sigh.)

‘That was nice.’ He blurted out and immediately wished he hadn’t. Feeling extremely self-conscious he turned and hurried away from the house as quickly as he could after throwing in a polite ‘Thanks Miller.’ because he guessed that was what she would have done had their roles been reversed.

Hardy couldn’t decide whether his entrance or his exit had been the most embarrassing, but at least after the latter he had been able to escape.

They never talked about that night and there was a silent agreement between the two of them not to initiate anything like that ever again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "I'll piss in a cup and throw it at you" is probably my favourite Ellie Miller quote.


	3. You’re not lighting a candle!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still definitely not a date

The second time Hardy had dinner at Miller’s house was on a particular unfortunate night when Hardy had just moved into his new house and had discovered that the heater was broken. After arriving at the station still shivering from the cold night, Miller had more of less forced him to accept dinner at her place.

‘You don’t have a say in this.’ She said when he started to protest. ‘I’m not letting you freeze to death.’

Hardy had spent the afternoon silently plotting his escape. Miller must have been expecting as much, because when he tried to slip out of the office unnoticed she called him back and, much to the amusement of her colleagues, all but dragged him to her car.

Tom, who was not on speaking terms with his mother’s boss yet, had in record time arranged a sleepover with some friends and that left Hardy and Miller alone with the little Fred. Miller prepared a simple pasta while instructing Hardy how to set the table and arrange her son in his chair. It all went quite well until the pans were placed on the table and Miller appeared with a lighter. 

‘No.’ He said.

She looked confused. ‘What?’

‘You’re not gonna light a candle.’ 

‘Why not? There were candles last time.’

Hardy groaned. ‘For fucks sake, MIller, we’re not on a date. This is unpleasant enough as it is.’

They exchanged a glare.

‘Alright.’ Ellie tossed the lighter on the table. ‘You don’t have to be such a knob about it.’

They started eating in heavy silence. Awkward didn’t even begin to cover it.

While keeping their eyes fixed on their plates was an effective way of avoiding to look at each other, it also meant that none of them was paying attention to Fred. The young boy didn’t like being ignored and started shifting in his seat. Ellie shrieked in shock when her son dropped his still half full plate on the ground and. Hardy swore loudly. Both immediately jumped to their feet to avoid pasta stains and silence the now crying Fred.

The commotion shifted the atmosphere. Some of the tension disappeared as Hardy held the toddler while Miller cleaned up the mess.

Together they did the dishes. It took a moment but then Hardy begrudgingly agreed to let Ellie do the washing while he did the drying. 

‘Second time you cooked for me.’ Hardy looked displeased at this, even though technically that wasn’t true. Joe had cooked for the both of them last time.

Miller rolled her eyes and handed him another plate to dry. ‘Well if it makes you feel better, next time you can get me dinner, how about that?’ 

‘ _ Get _ you dinner?’ He left one eyebrow. ‘Are you implying that I don’t cook?’

‘Do you?’

‘If I have time, yes.’ he grumbled. ‘Rarely happens these days.’

When they finished the dishes Miller insisted on driving him home. He allowed it only because taking the car would mean a prolonged warm environment. Ellie stopped him with a hand on his arm before he could leave the car.

‘This was… nice?’

‘Don’t say that.’ he grunted. ‘See you tomorrow. Thanks, Miller.’

They made a point of never bringing it up again. 


	4. You said dinner. This isn’t dinner...

Actually dinner at the Millers had happened three times. However, if you asked Hardy that last time didn’t count. It all started with an incredibly stupid mistake on his side involving a excursion day at Daisy’s school that had slipped his mind and an extremely difficult suspect in interrogation room 1. Whatever or however it had happened didn’t matter, because that knowledge wouldn't change the outcome. He had forgotten his promise to pick up his daughter.

Hardy had felt quite victorious as after hours of interrogation their suspect had finally caved and the interview could be terminated. He had gone straight to MIller’s desk to share the news, only to discover that she had already been gone for hours. Not only that, when he pulled out his phone to text her, he saw that she had tried to call him at least five times. As had his daughter.

With a heavy heart Hardy opened his voicemail.

 _‘So I’m here to pick up Tom and guess who he is talking to? No? She definitely got that grumpy impatient look from her dad. I guess she’s waiting for him. But we both know_ **_he_ ** _won’t be here in time, won’t we? Of course_ **_you_ ** _would forget! Shame on you, Hardy! [ … *_ muffled shouting in the background _* ...] I’m taking her home. You’re welcome.’_

Hardy felt the blood drain from his face as realisation hit him like walking into a brick wall. ‘Shit…’ 

His phone played the second voicemail.

_‘Hi dad. Tom’s mum has picked me up. She said you’re very busy so I’ll stay there for a bit. Tom is asking if I can stay for dinner. That’s not a problem, right? I’ll see you tonight.’_

‘Shit shit shit shit!’ Feeling incredibly stupid he called MIller.

He endured a full ten minutes of her shouting at him before she hung up with a softer. ‘Well at least you put away our man, I guess that counts for something.’

\---

When he turned up at Miller’s doorstep to collect his daughter, Daisy had asked if she could stay for dinner. Ellie had apparently either forgiven him or decided on his punishment, because she invited him to stay as well. Hardy never really could say no to Daisy's pleading puppy dog eyes, so he accepted the offer "just this once".

Dinner, it turned out, was ordered pizza, which they ate sitting at the table that was barely large enough to fit the five of them. 

‘You said dinner. This is not dinner...’ Hardy pulled on a string of cheese and watched in disgust as it stretched almost half a meter before breaking. ‘I can’t-’

‘I know.’ Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘You can’t eat that. Though, ‘cause I’m not making you something else.’

Both teenagers were happily stuffing themselves, shoving whole slices in their mouths while Miller cut off edible bites, feeding Fred as well. Hardy sulkily pricked some olives onto his fork and tried to look remorseful every time Miller pointingly shot him a glare.

They did the dishes again while Tom and Daisy played a videogame and Fred tried to get hold of the controllers. This time Hardy picked up the towel without complaint and didn’t need Ellie’s instructions on where to put the tableware and wine glasses. He was awkwardly aware of his daughter shooting him a surprised look that said "you never do that at home", but he ignored it. 

He had a strange sense of deja vu when Miller and Tom escorted them to the porch.

‘That was…’ he frowned, searching for the right word.

‘Nice?’ 

He glared at her, before his expression softened. ‘That was kind of you, to pick up Dais.’

‘It’s fine.’ she reassured him, smiling brightly. ‘The two of you should come over again sometime.’

At that point Hardy really couldn’t tell if she was still cross with him or if this was a genuine offer. ‘That’s really not-’ his protest stopped as Daisy elbowed him.

‘Dad! We talked about this.’ Then she addressed Ellie. ‘That would be nice, we’re looking forward to it.’

Hardy grunted.

‘Right, dad?’

Under the stern gaze of his daughter he rolled his eyes and then mumbled. ‘Fine. Right.’

‘Next time he will cook for you.’ Daisy offered. 

‘Daisy!’ He warned. ‘That's enough.’

But Miller only made it worse by beaming at him and nodding happily. ‘I would like that.’

‘It’s a date then.’ Daisy grinned. 

‘I didn’t say that!’ Ellie protested at the same time that Hardy said ‘Right, I’m leaving.’ 

‘Come on, Dais.’ he turned and made his escape but not quick enough for the women to not hear him mumbling. ‘Never should have agreed to this. Bloody hell.’ 

Daisy shook her head in slight amusement as she watched her father stomp away, thrusting his hands in his pockets in frustration. 

‘What he means to say is thank you.’ She smiled apologetically at Ellie before turning her head and shouting pointedly ‘Don’t you, dad?’ 

He shouted something back that luckily neither of the women understood.


	5. This is not a date, Miller

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is, the final piece.
> 
> Sometimes "never" happens faster than you expect.

Hardy was nervous. He was so nervous that every inch of his body seemed to express discomfort. Also, he had been clicking his pen for a solid five minutes straight and almost jumped from his chair when Ellie called him out on it.

For a moment both of them stared at the document pulled up on Ellie's screen in silence. Hardy clicked the pen. Then he tapped it against his chin. Then he clicked the pen again, once, twice, pause. Slowly his thumb slid from the top, releasing the mechanism with a softer, almost thoughtful click. 

'Oh, for God's sake!' Ellie couldn’t take it anymore and snatched the pen from Hardy’s hands. ‘Would you please focus!’

‘Oi! Give that back!’ he held up his hand in a demanding manner.

‘Only if you tell me what’s going on.’

‘Nothing’s _going on_ , Miller.’ Hardy made an attempt to grab hold of his beloved pen, but missed. ‘Now give me my pen. That’s an order.’

‘Fine, _sir_.’ Ellie rolled her eyes, but handed over the item. ‘But I know you’re up to something.’

‘i’m not.’

She eyed him incredulously. ‘No you are, i can see it.’

‘Miller…’ he groaned, tossing the pen onto the desk. ‘Here, you win, I lost the pen. Now leave it.’

She shook her head at his childish reasoning, and had to force herself not to smile. She was not letting him off the hook. ‘Come on, out with it. What are you up to?’

‘I’m not-’ but under Miller’s stern, knowing stare it was useless to lie. He took a deep breath, repeating the words in his head, and then another one, looking at woman next to him. Then he opened his mouth and the words came tumbling out rapidly.

‘Do you wanna have dinner?’

Ellie blinked, once, twice, pause. Then she cleared her throat. ‘I’m sorry?’

Hardy swallowed, stealing himself before repeating. ‘Do you wanna have dinner? With me I mean. Tonight.’

‘What?’

‘You can say no.’ he quickly added, rubbing the back of his steadily flushing neck embarrassedly. ‘It’s just that both Daisy and Tom eat at school today and Daisy sort of suggested that we could... You know, so that we wouldn’t…’

‘Have to eat alone.’ she finished for him.

‘Well yeah.’ He cleared his throat and averted his eyes. He fiddled with his fingers, wishing he hadn’t tossed away his pen. ‘It’s a stupid idea really. Forget it.’

‘Yes.’

He tried not to look too hurt as he nodded. ‘Right, I ehm- I shouldn’t have asked.’

‘No.’ Miller surprised him by grabbing his arm as he stepped away from her. ‘I mean, yes, I want to have dinner.’

He looked confused.

‘Dinner. With you. Tonight.’ she nodded. ‘What time?’

‘Ehm.’ Hardy looked at his watch sheepishly. He hadn’t thought that far ahead. ‘At seven?’

‘Your place at seven it is then.’ she smiled warmly. ‘Now do you think you can focus?’

\--

It was just the two of them this evening as Ellie had dropped Fred at her sister’s despite Hardy insisting that she could bring him. While he had mentioned before that he could cook, as had his daughter, Ellie was quite surprised that Hardy had indeed cooked for her. 

‘I won’t lie, I was expecting a salad.’ she said as he placed a plate filled with stir-fried vegetables, potatoes and meat in front of her.

‘I know you don’t like them.’ he replied.and went to fill their glasses with wine. ‘And I wanted to say thank you, can’t do that with a salad.’

‘What for?’

‘Just… You know.’ he gestured vaguely. ‘For taking care of me and Daisy.’

Once they were both seated she raised her glass and he mirrored her. They clinked their glasses and drank. Then Ellie chuckled as her eyes fell on the single candle standing unlit on the far side of the table.

Hardy followed her line of sight and rolled his eyes. ‘Daisy thought it was very funny.’

‘I can see why she would.’ she shook her head. ‘Good thing you didn’t light it.’

Hardy's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. ‘That’s because this is not a date, Miller.’ he grunted.

‘Good, because I’m not dating you. Never gonna happen.’ she added for good measure. She didn’t point out that Hardy could have easily put the candle out of sight if he wanted to.

They ate, following the unspoken rule not to talk about work. Instead they talked about their children, their friends, simple everyday things. Ellie knew that when it was just the two of them Hardy was easy company. Over the years he had opened up to her. It had been a painstakingly slow process to get him to talk about himself and there were still moments that the old rude and awkward side showed. At times he pushed her away entirely, but Ellie found that it was okay. Hardy was getting better at talking about his feelings, but she knew he needed time to figure things out for himself and would find his way back to her if he wanted to share. Sometimes he apologised for this. He didn't really have to, but Ellie appreciated it nonetheless. He had improved greatly at extending apologies where necessary, though she would still occasionally catch him glancing in her direction for guidance in this matter. Secretly she took pride in this development.

It was strange, Ellie mused, watching her boss, no her friend, put his knife down to take a sip of wine. Despite the strong friendship they had built over the years, something like this had never happened before. They spent a lot of time together because of work, they talked a lot and confided in each other, mainly because there wasn't really anybody else. They'd grown closer than she'd maybe like to admit. She knew him and he knew her. And yet something as simple as dinner had never happened. Not if it wasn’t work related. Not just the two of them.

‘Something wrong?’

Hardy had caught her staring. He looked nervous suddenly, unsure. 

‘No.’ She rushed to reassure him. ‘Nothing’s wrong. This is nice.’

‘Ah.’ he took another sip before meeting her eyes. ’Do you really think so?’

‘No, of course not.’ Ellie rolled her eyes at the confused look he gave her. ‘I’m kidding. Tell Daisy that this was a good idea.’

Hardy’s face softened and a small smile appeared. ‘I will.’ 

\---

After they finished eating they moved to the kitchen where Ellie washed and Hardy dried and patiently showed her how to handle the cleaning of his pans. The atmosphere was light and warm as they worked alongside each other. 

‘So you finally returned the favour.’ Ellie remarked cheekily. ‘Turns out you really can cook.’

‘S not my fault you didn’t believe me.’ he snorted in return. ‘But I’m glad you didn’t think it was terrible.’

‘Far from it.’ she winked at him. ‘What other secret talents have you been keeping from me?’

‘Wouldn’t be secret talents if I told you.’ he winked back. ‘Who knows, maybe I’m part time line dancer.’

He attempted keeping a straight face, but failed when Ellie started giggling.

‘You. Dancing.’

The princess was wearing a sacque gown as she entered through the double-doors of the ballroom.

‘I can dance!’ He made a few awkward steps that didn’t even come close to dance moves. Laughing he ducked and deftly avoided the hand that was splashing soap in his direction[1].

When Hardy had put away the last plate and closed the cupboard, he suddenly was no longer laughing. The atmosphere shifted and silence filled the kitchen as the last of Ellie’s giggles died away. She watched warily as Hardy picked up his still half full wine glass and swirled the content around, frowning as if he wanted to say something.

‘Oi! None of that brooding.’ she elbowed him. ‘Out with it.’

Hardy shrugged, mumbled something inaudible and walked out of the kitchen. Ellie recognized that he was trying very hard to hide whatever emotion was showing on his face. An emotion that might or might not have to do with dancing. She decided not to push. Moments like this were rare and it was not unlike Hardy to suddenly remove himself from situations where he was caught off guard. If he really wanted to say something he would eventually bring it up himself. After filling two glasses with water for both of them, she followed him and sat back down at the table.

They talked until it was dark and it was time for Ellie to leave and pick up Tom from school. It wasn’t until Hardy had walked Ellie to her car that he finally gathered the courage to speak.

'Miller?' He waited until she looked at him. 'What I wanted to say.'

'Yes?' She nodded encouragingly.

‘This. Dinner.’ he clarified. ‘Just the two of us.’

‘What about it?’ she pressed, waiting patiently as he struggled with the words.

‘I wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again sometime.’ he looked away. ‘If you’d want that too.’

Somehow it took her by surprise. She had expected him to admit at some point he had enjoyed this evening, but this went a bit further. Ellie found that she wasn’t quite sure how to respond to this confession. She fidgeted, fumbled with the car keys while carefully choosing her words. 'Alec.’ his name fell from her lips softly and Hardy twitched. ‘Are you asking me on a date?'

He looked torn, raking a hand through his hair, once, twice, pause. He swallowed and visibly forced himself to raise his gaze and look her in the eye. 'If we had been at your house,’ he asked slowly, almost hopefully, ‘would you have lit that candle?'

She considered this, considered the meaning behind the question. Would she?

Hardy was watching her, looking small and lost and ready to walk away from this moment and never broach the subject again. A whole scala of emotions rushed through her, from amusement to annoyance, from surprise to something that could only be described as wonder. And Ellie realised that deep down, she knew the answer, had maybe known it for quite some time. Her smile started small, tugging at the corners of her mouth, and slowly spread all the way to her eyes as she took a step closer.

Hardy froze as Ellie lifted a hand to his face and he closed his eyes. He didn’t move, didn’t even breathe as she reached up, standing on tiptoes and pressed her lips softly and very briefly against his cheek.

'Next time I will.'

When Hardy opened his eyes again, coming out of his shock, Ellie was already standing next to her car. 

'Thanks, Hardy.' She grinned widely and, almost as an afterthought, added ‘Do me a favour and do pick up your daughter this time.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it!  
> I hope you all had as much fun reading this as I had writing this.  
> Once again, thank you all for the support! Although I haven't replied to every comment, know that each and every one is much appreciated. 
> 
> I have thought about adding a 6th chapter, describing an actual date, but I'm afraid a lot of the magic of their dynamics will be lost when I attempt that. Also, I'm quite pleased with this ending.  
> But who knows, maybe someday I'll change my mind.
> 
> [1] If you're very confused about the picture of Alec Hardy as part-time linedancer I suggest you watch David Tennant read the lyrics to the Broadchurch theme ;) Back

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first ever multi-chapter fic that I finished!!!  
> I should be ashamed, given how many stories I have abandoned over the years, but I'm not gonna lie: I'm so proud I finally made it!


End file.
